Klaviyo is a marketing automation and customer data platform built for ecommerce, combining email, SMS, segmentation and lifecycle automation on top of store data. Its advantage over general email tools is the data model: it reads products, orders and browsing behaviour, then attributes revenue back to individual flows.
Klaviyo: the short answer
Every line below is drawn from facts verified on 9 August 2026.
- What it is
- Ecommerce marketing that knows what each customer bought
- Best for
- Shopify and WooCommerce stores running lifecycle email
- Starts at
- Free plan up to 250 profiles; paid plans from $45/month
- Free option
- Free plan available, no trial
- Biggest strength
- Best ecommerce data model and revenue attribution in the category
- Biggest drawback
- Cost scales with active profiles regardless of engagement
- Closest alternative
- Mailchimp - Broader integration ecosystem, far weaker ecommerce attribution
- True annual cost
- from $540 a year at the cheapest paid tier
Klaviyo at a glance
| Best for | Shopify and WooCommerce stores running lifecycle email, Brands wanting revenue attributed to individual flows, Teams combining email and SMS in one journey |
|---|---|
| Category | Marketing, Ecommerce, Analytics |
| Starting price | Free plan up to 250 profiles; paid plans from $45/month |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free trial | No trial offered |
| Pricing model | subscription |
| Company | Klaviyo, Inc. |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Founders | Andrew Bialecki, Ed Hallen |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android |
| Public API | Yes |
| Browser extension | No |
| Mobile apps | iOS + Android |
| Self-hosting | No |
| Affiliate programme | Partner programme for agencies and technology partners; rates vary |
| Data source | Vendor pricing page and public records |
| Last checked | August 2026 |
Klaviyo pricing
Prices below were read from the vendor's own pricing page on 9 August 2026. Pricing model: subscription. No free trial is offered.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | per month | Up to 250 active profiles, 500 email sends per month, $5 of mobile messages |
| From $45 | per month | Price scales with active profile count | |
| Email and SMS | From $45 plus messaging | per month | SMS billed on message credits by region and carrier |
| Enterprise | Custom | Negotiated | Higher volumes, dedicated support and advanced services |
What Klaviyo actually costs over a year
A monthly price is not the same thing as a monthly contract. These are the plans above multiplied out to twelve months, per seat or unit where the plan is charged that way.
| Plan | Monthly | Over 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| $45 | $540 | |
| Email and SMS | $45 | $540 |
Which Klaviyo plan should you buy?
| Your situation | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You are testing with a tiny list | Free | Up to 250 profiles and 500 sends. Enough to connect your store and see the flows work. |
| You run a Shopify or WooCommerce store | From $45 a month, scaling with active profile count. Revenue attribution per flow is what you are buying. | |
| You want SMS in the same journeys | Email and SMS | Messaging credits are billed by region and carrier on top of the plan. |
| Your list is large | Check the profile-count tier first | Price scales with active profiles, so the $45 figure is an entry point. Suppressed profiles still count if active. |
| You have no product catalogue | Do not buy Klaviyo | The entire value is modelling purchases and products. Without those, use Brevo or MailerLite. |
Verdict by who you are
Ecommerce brand on ShopifyYes
Attribution per flow tells you which automation earns what, and no general email tool does this properly.
Brand combining email and SMSYes
One journey across both channels, rather than two vendors and a reconciliation problem.
B2B companyNo
Built around transactions and catalogues. Sales-led nurture fits HubSpot better.
Large list on a tight budgetCompare first
Profile-based pricing gets expensive. Compare Omnisend, which advertises saving up to 35% against Klaviyo.
Should you buy Klaviyo?
Buy Klaviyo if…
- Shopify and WooCommerce stores running lifecycle email
- Brands wanting revenue attributed to individual flows
- Teams combining email and SMS in one journey
Do not buy Klaviyo if…
- Businesses without a transactional product catalogue
- B2B companies needing sales-led nurture
- Very large lists on a tight budget
Key features
- Deep store data sync covering products, orders and browsing
- Prebuilt flows for abandoned cart, welcome and post-purchase
- Revenue attribution per flow and per campaign
- Predictive analytics including customer lifetime value
- Combined email and SMS in a single journey
- Segmentation on behavioural and transactional data
- A/B testing on subject lines, content and send time
- Reviews and mobile push as adjacent products
Integrations
- Shopify and WooCommerce
- BigCommerce and Magento
- Meta and Google advertising audiences
- Recharge and Gorgias
- Klaviyo APIs and webhooks
Klaviyo screenshots
Captured by us in August 2026 at 1440px, unedited. Interfaces change, so these show the product as it looked on the date we verified this profile. Vendors localise pricing by visitor region, so a pricing screenshot may display a different currency to the USD figures recorded above.
Our assessment
Klaviyo is the correct default for anyone selling products online, and the reason is attribution rather than the email editor. Because it holds order and browsing data natively, it can tell you that a particular abandoned-cart flow produced a specific amount of revenue last month, which turns email from a cost line into a measurable channel. That clarity is what justifies pricing well above general email tools. The constraint is the same one every contact-priced platform has: cost rises with active profiles whether or not they buy anything, so list hygiene is a financial discipline here, not just a deliverability one.
What works in Klaviyo
- Best ecommerce data model and revenue attribution in the category
- Prebuilt flows that work well with minimal configuration
- Email and SMS genuinely combined in one journey
- Free plan up to 250 profiles allows a real trial
What doesn't
- Cost scales with active profiles regardless of engagement
- Materially more expensive than general email tools at the same list size
- SMS is billed separately on message credits
- Overkill for businesses without a product catalogue
EveryAny Decision Score
Scored by dimension rather than averaged into one number, because the trade-offs are the useful part. 3 of these 8 dimensions are calculated from verified facts by published formula; the rest are editorial judgement, labelled as such. How each score is calculated.
- Cost position1.7/10
derivedentry tier at $45 a month against a category median of $20 across 12 comparable tools
- Portability5/10
derivedpublic API
- Subscription flexibility6/10
derivedfree plan, subscription, monthly billing
- Feature depth9/10
editorialeditorial judgement, reviewed at last check
- Ease of learning6/10
editorialeditorial judgement, reviewed at last check
- Collaboration7/10
editorialeditorial judgement, reviewed at last check
- AI capability7/10
editorialeditorial judgement, reviewed at last check
- Professional adoption9/10
editorialeditorial judgement, reviewed at last check
What leaving Klaviyo would cost
moderate lock-in
Calculated as 10 minus a portability score of 5, built from four signals (self-hosting, a public API, open-source licensing and a documented export path) . Klaviyo scores on: public API. Formula.
Klaviyo competitors and alternatives
| Alternative | Why you might pick it instead |
|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Broader integration ecosystem, far weaker ecommerce attribution. |
| Omnisend | Cheaper for small stores with similar ecommerce flows. |
| Brevo | Better if you send infrequently to a large list, priced on sends. |
Mailchimp
Marketing
Email marketing and automation platform aimed at small and mid-sized businesses.
Active profiles are the billing unit
Klaviyo charges on active profiles, meaning contacts who can receive marketing. The free tier allows 250 profiles and 500 email sends a month, and paid plans begin at $45 and rise with profile count.
The practical consequence is that suppressing unengaged contacts directly reduces your bill. On a 30,000-profile list where a third never open anything, cleaning it is worth real money every month as well as improving inbox placement. Treat list hygiene as a budget task with a calendar reminder.
Attribution is the actual product
Any tool can send an abandoned-cart email. Klaviyo tells you that the flow generated a specific amount of revenue in a specific period, because it holds the order data rather than receiving a webhook about it. That single capability is why stores tolerate the price difference against Mailchimp, and it is the thing to test during evaluation: connect your store, let real data flow for a fortnight, then look at whether the numbers tell you something you did not already know.
SMS is a separate cost
Mobile messaging is billed on credits that vary by country and carrier, and it sits on top of the profile-based subscription. The free plan includes $5 of mobile messages a month, which is enough to test the mechanics and nothing more. If SMS is central to your plan, model it separately rather than assuming it is bundled.
Where it is the wrong tool
If you do not sell products, most of Klaviyo’s advantage disappears and you are paying for a data model you cannot populate. A B2B company running nurture sequences will be better served by a marketing automation tool built around leads and deals, and a newsletter publisher will find Klaviyo’s pricing hard to justify against creator-focused platforms.
Klaviyo questions, answered
- Is Klaviyo worth it?
- Klaviyo is the correct default for anyone selling products online, and the reason is attribution rather than the email editor.
- How much does Klaviyo cost?
- Free plan up to 250 profiles; paid plans from $45/month. The cheapest paid tier we recorded works out at $45 a month, or $540 over a year. Verified against the vendor's pricing page.
- Does Klaviyo have a free plan or free trial?
- Klaviyo has a free plan. No free trial is offered.
- What is the best Klaviyo alternative?
- It depends on the job. Mailchimp: Broader integration ecosystem, far weaker ecommerce attribution. Omnisend: Cheaper for small stores with similar ecommerce flows. Brevo: Better if you send infrequently to a large list, priced on sends.
- Can I self-host Klaviyo?
- No. Klaviyo is a hosted service only, so your data lives on the vendor's infrastructure.
Provenance and freshness
When each fact was last checked
- Pricing ·
- Plans ·
- Free trial
- Features
- Platforms
- Integrations
- Affiliate programme
- Company details
What has changed
-
August 2026
- Pricing verified, noting it scales with active profile count
- Added plan picker and verdicts
Sources & verification
Facts on this page were read from the sources below on the dates shown. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, we record it as not disclosed rather than estimating it.
- Klaviyo pricing - checked 9 August 2026
Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we will re-check it. Corrections are logged on the page.
